Snowpack clues point to an average spring runoff

Resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo checks a snow sample from one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Marcel Macullo with Parks Canada takes snow-depth measurements at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada aquatics specialist Shelley Humphries and resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo collect data on the snowpack on April 2 near Field, B.C.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo looks at a measuring tube as he takes snow-depth measurements on April 2 near Field B.C. The data is used to help forecast flooding and moisture levels for Parks Canada, the B.C. government and B.C. Hydro.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo looks at a measuring tube as he takes snow depth measurements at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2. The data which has been collected for many years is used to help forecast flooding and moisture levels for Parks Canada, the B.C. government and B.C. Hydro.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada aquatics specialist Shelley Humphries records data as resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo takes snow depth measurements at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo looks at a measuring tube as he takes snow depth measurements at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo looks at a measuring tube as he takes snow depth measurements at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo empties a measuring tube to record the weight of a snow depth measurement at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2. The data which has been collected for many years is used to help forecast flooding and moisture levels for Parks Canada, the B.C. government and B.C. Hydro. The study is similar to snowpack studies on the eastern side of the continental divide that affect Alberta streams and rivers.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Parks Canada resource management and public safety specialist Marcel Macullo empties a measuring tube as he snow depth measurements at one of 10 plots in the forest near Field B.C. on April 2.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Yoho National Park — At the beginning of each month in the winter, Shelley Humphries and Marcel Macullo strap on their backcountry skis and head into a forest along the Trans-Canada Highway near Field, B.C., to measure the snowpack.

They plod through the crunchy snow, carrying backpacks and hauling a long metal tube.

“We want to be in the open spot of the forest,” says Humphries, an aquatics specialist with Parks Canada, as they stop earlier this week at the first snow survey site: a small clearing identified by yellow square markers on the trees.

Macullo, a resource management and public safety specialist, drives the tube through the snow and turns it a couple times before pulling it out to see how much snow has collected inside and reading the data to Humphries.

As she records the information, Macullo carefully removes the dirt plug with a butter knife and dumps the snow into a dry bag so it can be weighed once they visit all 10 sites along the snow survey.

The information, which has been compiled since 1940, is collected by the British Columbia government from 53 automated snow pillow sites and up to 170 snow survey sites on a monthly basis from January to May each year.

It’s used for everything from predicting seasonal flood and forest fire risks to determining hydroelectric power and the energy futures markets.

Dave Campbell, head of the River Forecast Centre with the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, says snowpack levels have been declining in recent decades.

“There’s less snow and one of the big implications is around the aquatic habitats,” he says, noting it could affect fisheries because it’ll mean less water for habitats by the end of summer.

It’s an area that Parks Canada keeps a close eye on.

“Water availability is habitat for fish,” says Humphries, noting the information can also be used to determine what’s happening with other wildlife and issues related to snow depth or climate change.

Both the federal and provincial governments also use the data to determine seasonal flood risk.

Once it’s compiled, Campbell said the information is collected and distributed online, where it’s picked up by B.C. Hydro and many others with an interest in water availability.

So far this year, there’s a below average snowpack in British Columbia.

On the east side of the continental divide, the Alberta government makes similar efforts to collect snowpack data.

“We use it typically for two different things: One is for water supply forecasting,” says Andrew Huang, river forecast engineer with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. The information, he says, is used by the irrigation districts, municipalities and industry to plan for water usage.

Huang says Alberta also measures snowpack as part of its flood forecasting model.

“We use that data, along with soil moisture and temperature forecasts and precipitation forecasts ... to help us predict flood peaks and their timing,” he explains.

Huang says this year’s snowpack is normal and doesn’t present any concerns related to flooding — although he adds that could change based on spring rainfall.

At Marmot Creek Research Basin, which has snow stations set up to monitor the Bow Valley, the snowpack is slightly higher than usual.

“It was way above normal for the first part of the year,” says John Pomeroy, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and the Canada research chair in water resources and climate change. “I thought it was going to be crazy, but then it settled right down and has dried out.

“So it’s above normal, but not much.”

Pomeroy says it means there won’t be a drought, but it’s still too early to tell whether there will be flooding in Alberta.

“If it’s at normal levels, you could still get flooding if it snows heavily over the rest of the spring,” he says, noting most measurement sites across Alberta are reporting normal levels. “It’s not the near-record snowpacks we had leading up to last spring.”

Saskatchewan, he says, is expected to bear the brunt of issues related to a high snowpack.

“Regina and Moose Jaw are going to get hit pretty hard and probably in the east, near Yorkton, as well,” he says, noting the eastern prairies are getting wetter over the years. “This is another year with near-record snowpacks.

“If it socks into rains at the same time, it could be very, very bad for the eastern prairies.”

Back in B.C., Humphries notes there’s a lot of practical reasons to measure snowpack.

“It’s very helpful for us to go out once a month and have a look at what’s happening,” she says. “I can tell from what we are seeing now, if we don’t see any major snow come, we’re going to be headed for an early spring out here.”

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